Border Games: The Politics of Policing the U. S. -Mexico Divide

**In this third edition of** **__Border Games__****, Peter Andreas charts the rise and transformation in policing the flow of drugs and migrants across the US-Mexico border.** Recent border crackdowns and wall-building campaigns, he argues, are not unprecedented. Rather, they are the outcome of an escalatory dynamic already in motion—but now played out on a far bigger stage, with higher stakes, and in new security and political contexts. Focusing on the power of symbolic politics and policy feedback effects, Andreas traces the logic behind such buildup. Border policing is an attractive political mechanism for handling the often unintended consequences of past policy choices, signaling a commitment to territorial integrity and projecting an image of territorial authority. Yet its negative aftermath is not only frequently glossed over; it also fuels further escalation. With new chapters on the border policies of the Obama, Trump, and Biden administrations, __Border Games__ continues to help readers grasp how the busiest border in the world is also one of the most fortified, and why it plays such a complicated and contentious role in both domestic politics and US-Mexico relations. "The U.S.-Mexico border is the busiest in the world, the longest and most dramatic meeting point of a rich and poor country, and the site of intense confrontation between law enforcement and law evasion. Border control has changed in recent years from a low-maintenance and politically marginal activity to an intensive campaign focusing on drugs and migrant labor. Yet the unprecedented buildup of border policing has taken place in an era otherwise defined by the opening of the border, most notably through NAFTA. This contrast creates a borderless economy with a barricaded border.". "Extending the analysis to the borders of the European Union, Andreas identifies different forms of law enforcement escalation that reflect distinct historical legacies and regional contexts. Andreas challenges the notion that borders are irrelevant in an age of globalization and stresses that, rather than eroding, some critical borders are being reinforced and remade."--BOOK JACKET. Border Games Contents Preface to the Third Edition 1. The Escalation of Border Policing 2. Creating the Clandestine Side of the Border Economy 3. The Escalation of Drug Control 4. The Escalation of Immigration Control 5. Escalation in a New Security Landscape 6. Escalation in a New Political Landscape 7. Endless Escalation? Border Policing Trajectories Notes Index A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W Y Z "In this updated third edition, Peter Andreas brings the story of the intensifying practice and politics of policing drugs and migrants across the U.S.-Mexico border to the present day and helps make sense of how the busiest border in the world has also become one of the most heavily fortified"-- Provided by publisher